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Tuesday, July 21, 2015

For any artist there is a constant need to create and push boundaries beyond those you have already established, to try new things, and new styles of art. I find now that I am creating more "production" art and I fall into the trap of focusing on what might sell and less on pushing my boundaries and finding new inspiration. I recognize that this can lead to burnout and stale art so these past few months I have been focusing on looking for inspiration in new places, creating new products and trying out new designs.

New style of Memorial Stone

One place artists can find inspiration is other artists. I recently read all about Dog Mountain and Stephen Huneck. I feel like its a crime I grew up about an hour away from Dog Mountain and never knew about it! Stephen Huneck was an amazing artist who loved dogs, he tragically passed away a few years ago but Dog Mountain is still open to the public. If you don't know what it is read about it and I promise as a dog lover you will want to visit. I was very inspired by the simple clean lines of his woodcuts. I decided to incorporate that idea of simplicity and combine it with my style for my memorial stones. Next time I am home visiting Vermont I hope to make a trip to dog mountain and hang a picture of my dear Sookie in the Chapel and experience Stephen's art first hand. Perhaps I can find even more inspiration while I am there!

Tuesday, June 30, 2015

Have you been thinking about ordering a custom piece of art from me but waiting for the right time? The time is now! I am having a very limited time custom order sale! I have never put my custom work on sale before! From now until until July 6 receive 10% off any custom item over 25.00! This includes urns, cake toppers, treat jars, wall plaques and more! Order today! You can use the order form found on this website. Or browse my Etsy shop for custom ideas and use the coupon code HAPPY4 to receive 10% off. Or feel free to email me at callie.badorrek@gmail.com with any questions or ideas!

Thursday, May 28, 2015

Right before my beloved Milly passed away another special cat in my life crossed over the rainbow bridge. Ingrid was my college roommates cat. I was really sad when Ingrid passed, I only lived with her for a short time but I loved her too, so when Milly followed soon after it felt a little like the end of an era. I am working on a sculpture of Ingrid to help April remember her, and while sculpting Ingrid yesterday it helped me heal a little over the loss of Milly. I thought about when both cats were young and some of the fun we all had together. I still miss Milly everyday but it was nice to smile at her memory instead of cry. I can't wait to see Ingrid all done!

Ready to dry, such a beautiful cat!

Pet sculptures are available for purchase click here for more details!

Friday, May 15, 2015

Here is a deep dark secret, I am not a cat person. I know this secret shocks approximately no one. So way back in 2001 when I secured my first apartment I was saddened to learn my landlord did not allow dogs, and no amount of begging was going to change that. She did however allow cats. So I went to the Humane Society and picked out a big fluffy, sassy black cat who was about 1 and 1/2 years old. Her name was Clariece but I changed it to Milly and she and I started out our long friendship with a road trip all the way from Vermont to North Carolina.

Milly Queen of her Kingdom

I quickly learned I knew nothing about cats, my father is no fan of cats so I had never had a pet cat before. I made lots of rookie cat owner mistakes, like leaving a coffee on the table which Milly drank from then and knocked over resulting in both a sticky mess and one crazy caffeinated cat. I tried to walk her on a leash which resulted in her climbing a tree while on the leash and me standing next to a tree dumbfounded. I kept replacing the blinds when she would break them instead of just pulling them up so she could get in the window. I learned cats were not like dogs, she did not just give me her love and affection, she did not care if I was pleased with what she did or not, she cared that I kept the cat nip coming. Over time Milly and grew to love each other. I learned her quirks and she learned mine. She began to lay on my chest and make bread, come when I called and even occasionally play fetch with catnip mice. I learned not to leave coffee out and as I added more cats to our crew she accepted each one with love like a good mama cat.

Milly and Picasso

Milly was with me through about 5 or 6 different apartments, she was with me on my first date with the man who would become my husband, who she approved of immediately, I think she knew he was the love of my life before I did. She saw me make some bad choices, but never condemned me only remained a calm presence in my life offering her brand of friendship and affection. She saw me make some great choices, she saw me graduate from college and get married. She moved with me from North Carolina to Maryland and went with me all the way from my first apartment with the terrible green shag carpet to my first house that had terrible green astroturf on the porch. She watched peruse my passion in ceramics at Hood College and go on to the take the scary leap to start my own business. She was there when other furry members of our crew passed away with warm fur and sweet purrs. She has been there for it all and now she's gone.

Snoozing in her tree and a beam

For 14 + years she has been my companion, my first friend on all my "grown up" adventures, a presence in my life I could depend on. It is hard for me to even process that she is gone, she's been with me for so long. I keep looking around the corner and expecting to see her or have her jump up at the table and beg for my yogurt like she always does. In the end she was in a lot of pain and I know we did the right thing by saying goodbye, I know she is happy and whole now in the best sunbeam you will ever find. But I miss her. I miss seeing her sleeping on her cat tree, I miss her laying on the steps and me yelling Milly are you trying to kill me, I even miss her fur everywhere, I hate knowing when I vacuum that will be the last I will see it.

Milly always ready to play

As I move forward without her it is bittersweet she watched me grow from a scared teenager into a somewhat confident adult, it hurts my heart she wont be here to witness the rest of my journey. The house seems very empty today and I think it will for awhile. She was just a cat, but she had a big heart and an even bigger personality and without her the world seems a little smaller. Rest in Peace Milly cat, you were the best girl.

Thursday, May 14, 2015

Urns can have many steps! When an urn is ordered with extra decoration it has even more steps. I enjoy them though, its a lot of fun to try new and creative things! I took a lot of pictures to keep track of the process for Prince and Starr's urn!

Ready to dry, finished sculpture

Glazed and ready to fire!

Fired but ready for more detail

Finally done! Color letters and numbers and cute glitter wings!

I love the way the rainbow letters look on the back!

Urns can come in all kinds of colors and options, contact me today to discuss your ideas!

Monday, May 4, 2015

I was recently commissioned to make a custom pet sculpture featuring 8 dogs! It was a challenge but a fun one! I worked closely with the client on how to pose them with her ultimately choosing how she wanted them to interact. I took lots of photos along the way from start to finish!

Sweet little teddy!

Those toes!

One of the most fun parts about these sculptures is your pet can posed any way you want, with any toys or items that make you think of him! Names and dates can be added on things like bones and hearts.

Wet work done!

These sculptures can feature a variety of animals, not just all dogs or all cats! Think you have too many pets for one sculpture? Just ask, this sculpture features 8 dogs!

The name bones really stand out once color is added!

Love this little feet!

A variety of color and finishes are available for these sculptures! The client for this sculpture chose a lovely green because it made her think of grass or the dog park!

One of my favorite parts, all finished!

If you might be interested in something like this click here to visit my Etsy shop! These sculptures can be a great way to honor a pet who has passed or show your love for one who is snoozing on the couch!

Wednesday, April 15, 2015

Last week my husband and I had the pleasure of pet sitting our god-dog Furgus! We had all kinds of fun adventures with the three boys, including a pack walk in the park and ice cream! Look at those smiles!

Monday, April 6, 2015

I had planned to post my pictures from the London half of our trip right after I posted about St. Albans, but once I got home between jet lag and catching up on work I got side tracked. So they are late but here are some pictures from the London half of our big trip!

The Shard

London is a huge city, and I knew this before we went, but I am not sure I could imagine how big it was until I got there. Because we only had 3 days seeing everything was impossible, but we hit all the best sites and had a lovely and amazing time! The people were nice, the food was delicious and we only had one foggy "London" day! I can't wait to go back to Europe!

Big Ben!

The White Tower at the Tower of London

British Flag at Buckingham Palace

The changing of the guard!

Sorry to say I can't remember the name of this beautiful church we walked past!

Thursday, March 12, 2015

We are back from our vacation to England and I am happy to say it was wonderful! It was the first time both my husband and I traveled overseas. Everyone was lovely and helpful. It was a nice surprise to find that the food in England was in fact delicious, after having been warned by multiple people that was not the case. The first part of our trip was in St. Albans a small town right outside of London. It was really beautiful and had a great park I could hike around every day.

So much for gray days, almost every day was sunny!

St. Albans was an interesting town that was very rich in history. There were a lot of Roman artifacts and a stunning Cathedral right across the street from our hotel.

St.Albans Cathedral

Inside the Cathedral

I loved that I felt totally safe walking around St. Albans and never worried that I would get lost! Here are a few more pictures from around town in St. Albans, I will post a blog about our time in London later in the week!